Labor and Employment Group

On January 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) clarified its position regarding paid and unpaid internships. They will now use the “primary beneficiary” test for determining “whether interns are employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The agency has issued a revised Fact Sheet called “Internship Programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

On December 14, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued two landmark decisions. Both are of note because they directly and substantively address two issues that have vexed employers for a number of years: (1) When can two separate and distinct corporate entities be treated as joint-employers for NLRA purposes? and (2) When is a work rule or handbook policy unlawfully overbroad under the NLRA?

On December 5th, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) and a request for comments on tipping regulations issued pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The NPRM will propose that the tip pooling regulations issued by the DOL in 2011, which placed restrictions on employers’ ability to implement tip pooling arrangements, should be rescinded.

Who will be next? After Matt Lauer, Garrison Keiller, and Russell Simmons each faced assertions of inappropriate conduct in the last week, the “who’s next” question predominates pop culture and the daily news cycle. In the wake of numerous sexual harassment accusations unfolding across Hollywood and corporate America, sexual harassment has become one of the hottest topics in today’s news. While claims of sexual harassment in the workplace are nothing new, the almost daily media coverage of so many high-profile claims will likely result in an increase in reports of sexual harassment allegations for many employers in the immediate future.

OSHA has delayed the December 1, 2017, deadline for the Electronic Reporting Rule until December 15, 2017. This rule requires a wide range of establishments to electronically submit injury and illness information from their OSHA Forms 300A. The deadline extension was announced via a November 24, 2017, OSHA notice in the Federal Register.

On Friday, June 30, 2017, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens signed Senate Bill 43 into law. The Bill implements significant changes to the Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) and will likely have a significant impact on the litigation of MHRA claims. When he signed the legislation, Governor Greitens touted Senate Bill 43 for bringing Missouri law in closer alignment with the standards under federal law and 38 other states’ laws.

On April 4, 2017, the en banc Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overruled its own precedent and became the first Circuit to hold that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation can constitute unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII.

In November, 2016, voters in the State of Arizona adopted Proposition 206, known as The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Initiative. As of July 1, 2017, all employers in Arizona must provide employees with paid sick leave.